Five years ago, a friend asked Karen Hamilton for a favor, and
that request snowballed into a business. Hamilton and her husband,
Gary, own The Hamilton Group Ltd., a Whitefish, Montana, firm that
sells truck parts to private companies abroad. This past May, she
and Gary went to the Netherlands, France and Germany with a Women
In Trade Business Development Mission. We asked Karen to walk us
through her experience.

Evaluating
Possibilities
"I got literature on the mission and had to determine if [it]
was the best avenue to get new business," says Karen. "I
had to analyze the required money and how long it would take to
make it back."

Karen sent information to the U.S. embassies in the Netherlands
and France to help the commercial officers uncover potential
business partners she could meet. She also detailed what she
expected from the mission, including drumming up new business.

The trip seemed worth the expense, which Karen now estimates to
have been about $8,000. She suspects it will take 12 to 18 months
to recoup the investment.

Day One
Up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight from Whitefish to The Hague in the
Netherlands for a get-acquainted party the next day.

Day Two
To an 8 a.m. group briefing, which included an overview of the
Netherlands' economy and culture, with a U.S. Embassy
representative.

Following the meetings, the group took a VIP streetcar tour from
The Hague to the city of Delft. There they attended a cocktail
party with the mayor of Delft and Dutch entrepreneurial women.

The Next Half

Day Three
Left at 8 a.m. for a meeting at a truck repair plant. "We
discussed exporting several different types of products," says
Karen, "and left with an opportunity to bid on
merchandise."

Then came a last-minute meeting to discuss the couple's
water purification system. "We met with the father-and-son
owners of a 125-employee company," Karen notes. "We
didn't have samples, but we did have literature."

Then the Hamiltons attended a reception at the home of the U.S.
ambassador to the Netherlands.

Day Four (side
trip)
The group took the train to Paris, while the Hamiltons flew to
Frankfurt, Germany, for meetings with customers, buyers and finance
officers.

Day Five
Up at 4 a.m. for Karen's flight to Paris and Gary's trip to
another location in Germany to sign a new business contract. While
in Paris, Karen met with U.S. officials and several potential
customers. Plus, the editor of Femme d'Entreprise
magazine interviewed Karen for an article on the group.

Day Six
Karen and the other woman entrepreneurs had lunch at the home of
the U.S. ambassador to France. Then back to the hotel for a coveted
rest.

Day Seven
Up at 6 a.m. and to the consulate for truck- and auto-parts sales
meetings, from which the Hamiltons obtained another bidding
opportunity. A private lunch at the U.S. Embassy followed, and this
event ended the business portion of the mission.

Worth The Cost?
"We'll garner about $100,000 in business from the mission
this year and about $1.5 million within the next 18 months,"
Karen guesses. "This isn't an easy way to make money, but
if you're professional in business, it's another way to
find customers."